Issues

The first question I ask is, “Will the farm purchase be consistent with your business, family, and personal goals?” Too often investment decisions are made without determining their alignment with goals of other family members and partners....More

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack spoke to farmers this week at Commodity Classic. He thanked them for their hard work, extended the deadline for base acre and yield changes, asked for their help in passing the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade promotion and addressed GMOs....More

By definition, working capital is current assets, which can be turned to cash in one year or less, minus current liabilities due within one year. Working capital measures financial liquidity, which is the ability to sell assets without disrupting normal business operations....More

Profit margins for crop production this year are the tightest that they have been for several years, which makes 2015 crop insurance decisions extremely important. Many farm operators are looking for ways to reduce their crop operating expenses for 2015; however, cutting back on crop insurance coverage may not be a wise decision....More

Are you going to Commodity Classic this year? Have you downloaded the mobile app to your phone yet? Make sure you do so you can use some of the great features, including maps, the whole schedule, a to-do list and tweeting....More

There are certain characteristics of borrowers who will struggle at the end of the agricultural commodity super cycle. This includes farmers who won cash-rent lotteries during the upswing, as well as farmers who have high equity but marginal profits. Young ag professionals and rural America will also feel the pinch of the commodity downturn....More

Profit margins for crop production this year are the tightest that they have been for several years, which makes the 2015 crop insurance decisions even more critical. Producers have several crop insurance policy options to choose from, including yield protection (YP) policies and revenue protection (RP and RPE) policies, as well as several other group insurance policy options....More

In the 5 ag stories to read this week, get tips for preventing and managing soybean diseases this year. Watch videos from University of Illinois about profitability in agriculture and keep an eye out for a USDA survey. Read how one farmer's success with strip-till has led to more agronomic benefits, and check out a Facebook page dedicated to the love of farming.

The deadline to finalize decisions on base acre reallocation and updating payment yields at local Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices is Feb 27. The deadline for producers to complete the farm program choice on each farm unit, and potentially on each eligible crop, is March 31....More

In the coming years, there will be ag borrowers who will struggle. Three specific groups to watch are those businesses that utilized too much of their profits and working capital to purchase land, those who acquired machinery to reduce income taxes and those with high debt levels....More